ACCB: Rare White-rumped Vultures rehabilitated and released

Two members of the nearly-extinct vulture species survived a poisoning incidence in the northeast of Cambodia and recovered well after being treated at the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB).
Villagers had found the birds in December 2008 together with seven further vultures that were already dead, after they had fed on a water buffalo that had probably been poisoned by drinking from a contaminated water hole. In remote areas of Cambodia, it is not uncommon that villagers use pesticides for hunting and fishing. The villagers handed the birds over to local wildlife rangers of the Wildlife Conservation Society from where they were transported to the ACCB. The rehabilitation of the two vultures at ACCB went well. One of them has already been released in February and wildlife rangers have sighted the marked animal several times since the release. The younger vulture is going to be released soon.
The vulture population in Cambodia is of global conservation importance since almost all populations in their former centre of distribution on the Indian Subcontinent collapsed due to the widespread use of Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug often used to treat sick cattle. Invariably, vultures die after feeding on a carcass that has been treated with the drug up to a week prior to death. However, in Cambodia Diclofenac is not used. Here, vultures suffer mainly from a lack of food due to the demise of wild ungulate populations and the lack of free ranging cattle. Therefore, several so called "vulture restaurants" have been established to provide supplementary food for the birds. The ACCB takes part in a nationwide vulture conservation program and finances one of the feeding stations.

Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity